Process of manufacturing thin sheets, foil, strips, or ribbons of zinc, lead, or other metal or alloy.



, E. H. STRANGE & G. PIM.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING THIN SHEETS, FOIL, STRIPS, 0R RIBBONS 0F ZINC, LEAD,

OR OTHER METAL 0R ALLOY. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 190B.

.905 ,758. Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

8 -gk 4 EP E 9 WITNESSES I MM MM T i pd /M/ fi ATT RNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD HALFQRD STRANGE AND CHARLES ALBERT PIM, OF STAPLE INN, LONDON,

ENGLAND. v

PnocEss or mantmac'runme THIN snnn'rs, FOIL, s'rmrs, on RIBBONS or zmc, LEAD,

on o'rnER lmTAL on ALLOY.

To all whom amt concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD HALEORD STRANGE, technical research chemist, and

CHARLES ALBERT PIM, chemical engineer, subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, both of 7 Staple Inn, in the county of London,England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Manufacturing hin Sheets, Foil, Strips,,or Ribbons of Zinc, Lead, or other Metalor Alloy, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to provide an improved process by means of which zinc, lead, or other metal, or alloy, of a character adapted for use in the form of thin sheets, or foil, or strips, or ribbons, and of a melting point sufliciently low to allow of being treated as hereinafter described, can be continuously and very expeditiously and economic ally formed into very thin and even sheets, or foil, or strips, or ribbons, of even width and thickness and as free from flaws, or other imperfections, as possible and in a condition eminently adapted for being acted upon chemically.

According to our invention, the metal, or alloy, to be made into thin sheets or foil, or strips, or ribbohs, is maintained in a molten condition in any suitable receptacle and passes, or is passed, out of the said receptacle through an outlet, or outlets, having a crosssectional area proportional to the cross-section of the required thin sheets, or foil, or stri s, or ribbons, the said receptacle and out et, or outlets, being provided with any suitable means for retaining the metal, or

alloy, in a suiiiciently molten condition.

In close proximity to, but not in contact with, the said outlet, or outlets, we rovidea cool and traveling surface, so t at the molten metal, or alloy, is continuously received upon, and rapidly wiped up by, the

said traveling cool surface, as it passesthe outlet, oroutlets, the said metal, or alloy, being solidified by contact with the said cooled surface and continuously carried away at a ra id rate from the outlet, or out lets, from t e receptacle containing the cation of moisture to the surface with w molten metal, or alloy, so that it is drawn out thin between the outlet, or outlets, and the oint of contact with the cooled surface.

The said surface may be cooled by any suitable means' which Wlll not involve the aplpli Specification oi Letters Patent. Application filed March 14, 1908. Serial No. 421,055.

. face. ,wheel, or rolller, or two, or more, of them,

the molten metal comes into contact, such ,as by internal circulationof water, or cold Patented Dec. 1, 190 8. 7

air, or, impingement of, coldair upon the sur The said surface is preferably a disk,

which is, or are, set in close proximity to, but not in contact with, the outlet, or out lets, from themolten metal, or alloy, re-

ceptacle, so that the molten metal, or alloy, is received on the cooled side face, or cooled periphery, of the disk (or disks), or on the periphery of the wheel, or roller, (or wheels, or rollers), which is (or are) rapidly rotated,

and the metal, or alloy, sets'by contact with, I;

and is given off continuously from, the cooled face, or eriphery, as a very thin and even sheet, foil? strip, or ribbon, or two, or more, of them, in accordance withwhether the machine is arranged to make one, or

more than one, such thin sheet, foil, strip, or

ribbon, at a time.

The accompan ing drawing illustrates, in elevations at right angles to each other in Figs. 1 and 2, an apparatus suitable for the purposes of our invention.

1 represents the receptacle in which the metal, or alloy, is kept molten, for example by a Bunsen burner 2. The molten metal passes out by the outlet 3 which may be tubular, or slitted, orfwith an orifice of any other suitable shape in cross-section. In proximity to, but not in contact with, the said outlet, "is mounted a hollow drum, or disk, 4, with a longitudinally straight and smooth periphery and mounted by hollow trunnions. 5 in bearings in any suitable standards, or supports, and rovided with any suitable means for rapi y rotating it, such, for example, as a band 6 passed over a pulley 7 secured to one of the hollow trunnions. Passing through these hollow trunnions we have shown pipes 8 and 9, for the admission and exit of a cooling medium. If necessary, the outlet passage may also be heated to insure the metal, or alloy, keeping molten till it comes upon the drum, or disk, or e uivalent moving surface.

It as been roposed to make thin metallic sheets, or rib ons, by pouring a stream of molten metal onto a revolving copper drum partly immersed in water, or having jets of water injected against it, and to divide lead into fine threads, strips, or filaments, by melting the lead and permitting it to flow,

' under the action of gravit throu h small example the product when of zinc is emiapertures into a liquid,- an also it as been roposed to make metal wire rods, plates, bars, and the like, direct from molten metal by means of a coolin 7 tube formed by a groove running round t e face, or eriphery, of a drum, or wheel, rotating on a liorizontal axis and witha fixed semi-circular bod inclosing and covering the groove, an we make no claim to such devices.

The products according to this invention can be used for any required purpose. For

nently adapted for use in processes for the recovery of gold from solutions, and when of lead for the manufacture of white lead.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we'declare that what we claim is 1. The process of manufacturing thin strips of metallic material which consists in flowing the material in molten form upon a material is drawn out and hardened in a con- I tinuousthin strip, substantially as described.

2. The process of manufacturing thin strips of metallic material which consists in flowing the material in molten form upon a dry cool surface and simultaneously moving sa d surface at a speed considerably eater than the rate of flow of said material w ereby said material is drawn out and hardened in a continuous .thin strip, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our namesto. this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD HALFORD STRANGE. CHARLFlS ALBERT PIM.

Witnessesi GILBERT FLETCHER TYSON, WILLIAM GERALD REYNOLDS. 

